Tony Tost’s feature directorial debut Americana updates classic Western tropes and characters for the modern era in an engrossing intertwined narrative that ends with a bloody standoff. The somewhat comedic crime thriller stars Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, and Halsey at the head of a talented ensemble cast, which features several different story threads coming together over a Native American artifact heist.

Americana features several distinct lead characters, including Sydney Sweeney’s innocent waitress, Penny Jo Poplin, Paul Walter Hauser’s sweet and chivalrous former military man Lefty Ledbetter, Zahn McClarnon’s Lakota freedom fighter Ghost Eye, Halsey’s rebellious but beleaguered Mandy Starr, and her precocious son Cal, who believes himself to be “the reincarnation of Sitting Bull”.

The narrative revolves around separate groups who are each trying to obtain a stolen Lakota ghost shirt, a ceremonial garment that the Lakota believed to be imbued with protective spiritual powers. While some, like Lefty and Penny Jo, want to sell the rare item for a fortune, others like Ghost Eye want it returned to the Lakota people that it was originally stolen from decades ago.

Halsey’s Mandy Starr winds up with the shirt in her car as she flees her abusive ex-boyfriend (ex, because her son Cal had killed him with an arrow). As she returns to her father’s ultra-conservative Wyoming compound, the parties pursuing the shirt wind up in the same place at the same time, and a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly shootout ensues over possession of the shirt.

Who Survived The Tense Standoff At The Starr Compound, And How

Once the shooting starts at the Starr compound, the bodies began to pile up quickly. Ghost Eye and his Lakota freedom fighters account for the death of Hiram Starr and his ᴀssociates/sons, although the oppressed Starr women defend themselves vigorously to take out others. It’s Hiram himself who delivers the soon-to-be fatal gunsH๏τ to Lefty, although he survives long enough to leave with Penny Jo.

In a scene that’s pretty clearly meant to evoke the final battle in Western classics like The Magnificant Seven, Roy Lee Dean’s ᴀssociate mows down almost all the Lakota freedom fighters, while Ghost Eye is wounded in a face-off against Dean himself, who he mortally wounds. Ghost Eye is the only member of his militia to survive the final shootout.

Mandy is sH๏τ during the proceedings, but not before inspiring her mother and sisters to take up arms against the men who have tormented them, and defending their home from the men they believe will do the same. All the Starr women manage to escape the shootout with their lives, and get Mandy to a hospital.

Penny Jo and Cal work together to make their way out of the final gun battle, with Penny Jo allowing Cal to take the ghost shirt while she takes the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ antiquities dealer Dean’s money (while making sure to leave some for the Starr women to work with). It seems like they might be destined for a strange found family dynamic, but it’s not to be.

Why Penny Jo Leaves Lefty Sitting Up

In a clichéd but still beautifully heartbreaking scene, Lefty manages to get almost his entire marriage proposal out to Penny Jo, although he does so knowing that his time is limited. Penny Jo seems more surprised when he takes his final breath, but she still makes sure that he is given a proper ending of peace in the best way she is able to with her limited world experience.

She leaves Lefty posed, sitting up with a blanket over him and a six-pack of beer next to him, looking out over a beautiful Western vista. We are not technically given any confirmation of Lefty’s death, but as far as Penny Jo can tell, he is.

The pose she leaves him in is a callback to what he tells her when they discuss their heist of the ghost shirt in his home. He offers her all the money they might get out of the ordeal so she can pursue her dream of being a singer in Nashville, notably without ever hearing her sing. Lefty says that all he needs is good food, good beer, and good company, all of which he already has.

Penny Jo does her best to leave him in what she would consider a comfortable and peaceful position, and continues to drive to Nashville with the money, honoring his sacrifice for her as best she can, revealing that she is in fact a talented singer as she drives.

Why Ghost Eye Still Rejects Cal After He Gives Him The Ghost Shirt

In the ultimate ironic twist, Cal Starr is the one who winds up with the shirt at the end of the final shootout. He has Penny Jo and Lefty leave him at the compound of Ghost Eye’s Lakota militia, where he presents the ghost shirt to Ghost Eye, believing he has proven himself to be a genuine Lakota warrior, if not actually the reincarnation of Sitting Bull.

To Cal’s disbelief and disappointment, Ghost Eye accepts the shirt but merely shakes his head ‘no’ to Cal, who looks to join him in the compound. While it’s partially as simple as Ghost Eye not wanting to involve himself further with a delusional child (especially one who apparently has no grasp of cultural appropriation), there is a deeper meaning in his rejection.

Despite Cal’s genuinely good intentions in returning the stolen artifact to its rightful people, that doesn’t eliminate the centuries of persecution of Native American culture at the hands of white society.

Innocent though he might be, Cal represents modern progressives who are sympathetic to the Native American plight. Respect and deference shown in the modern day doesn’t eliminate the earth-shattering theft of the entire country from Native Americans, as America has continued to roll right along while tribes are still largely stuck on reservations.

The Real Meaning Of Americana

Americana is loaded with classic Western tropes, cleverly updated for the modern temporal setting. It’s impossible to miss the classic one-on-one gunfights, the approaching Native American warriors surrounding a house full of white settlers, and the pursuit of a rare “treasure” as the movie’s MacGuffin.

There are even some country music tropes involved, straight out of songs from the “heroes” that Penny Jo lists, most prominently Dolly Parton. Mandy’s entire character is emblematic of the traditional beleaguered wife or girlfriend who stands up for herself against an evil man, while Lefty’s sweet and gallant cowboy is another popular character in country music.

There are clear parallels between how women and Native Americans have both been oppressed by a white male-dominated society throughout most of America’s history (and still are to this day, in some cases).

The fact that all the women survive the shootout but only one Native American warrior does symbolize how the two groups have taken diverging paths in more recent history. Women have seen their position in society progress forward in the last century, while Native Americans are still marginalized to roughly the same level as they have been for decades.

Tony Tost placing classic Western tropes in a modern-day setting is intentionally jarring, and it’s why he rectifies the typical outcomes by having women and at least one Native American win the day. It’s a Tarantino-esque bit of revisionist history, and it’s particularly effective given that Americana is supported by an engaging, comedic narrative and compelling characters.